Toy car



$.A.YOUNG July 28, 1936.

TOY CAR Filed July 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l .3/ n 9. 9w u m mm m u m umu Q 1 E M I u M3 3 N1 8 i an m W N:m I Q\ R m o H v o o a flm c .2 E E Hin Sterling ATTORNEY S. A. YOUNG July 28, 1936.

TOY CAR Filed July 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented July 28,1936 UNITED STATES RATE NT OFFICE i 2,049,345. TOY GAR Sterling A;.Young. Pana, Ill. Application July 22, 1935; Serial-No; 32,635; 2Cla-ims. (01.208538) This invention relates to toy carsor vehicles ofthe type in which the. child pulls on a .propelling cable to actuate thedriving wheels.

An object. of the invention is to provide a simplified and improvedchange speed mechanism which may be readily operated by the operatorfrom his seat.

Afiirther object'is to provide a. light, strong,

compact my vehicle which will be formed of a few simple andinexpensiveparts which may be easily" manufactured,. and which will inot easily et out of order.

. With-the. above: and other. objects in view the invention consistsof." certain novel details of construction and combinations. of partshereinafter' fully' described and' claimed, it being understood that.various modifications may be resorted to. within the'scope oftheappended claims without departing from the spirit. or sacrificing anyof the advantagesiofi the invention.

In the. accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification:

Figure 1 is. a plan view of a toy vehicle constructed in accordancewiththe invention.

Figure 2 is aside elevationof .thetvehicleshown in Figureh.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the propelling cableshiftedto a selected step of the driving drum.

Figure 4 is a detail cross sectional view showing the driving drum, andcable rewinding spring and rachet mechanism for propelling the toyvehicle.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the drum showing the notched flangesthereof.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the drum showing the rachet connectionwith the rear axle.

Figure '7 is a detail cross sectional view taken on the line 1-"! ofFigure 1.

Figure 8 is a detail cross sectional view taken on the line 8-8 ofFigure 1 Referring now to the drawings in which like characters ofreference designate similar parts in the various views, the main frameof the vehicle includes rearwardly divergent side rails l connected atthe rear ends by a cross brace ll upon which, and the side rails, a seatI2 is secured in elevated position by standard I 3 rising from the siderails and brace.

The dirigible front axle I4 is centrally pivoted at the apex of theframe by means of a pivot pin-l5, and carries wheels l6 which turnfreely on the axle. Foot rests I 1 are secured to the axle on oppositesides of the pivot pin, against which the operator may bear to steer thevehicle.

The rear axle 18' isrevolubly mounted in suitable bearings l9 carried bythe rear end of the side rails and the rear wheels 20 are fixed to theaxle by means of pins 2| or other suitable connectors, and form drivingwheels. A stepped drum 22 is loosely mounted on the axle and is providedon one side with a pivoted dogi23 which engages a rachet gear 24 fixedto the axle to operatively connect the drum for rotating the axle whenthe drum is revolved in a counter clockwise direction. The drumpreferably is provided with three steps graduated in diameter to changespeed. A propelling cable 25 is terminally connected at the rear end tothe intermediate step bymeans of a pin 26* passed through an eye in thecable and secured to the step, or other equivalent fastening means maybe employed.

' A number of convolutions of the cable are wound upon the drum. Thecable is trained over a loose pulley 21' the shaft 28 of which isjournaled in suitable bearings on the front ends of the side rails 10,and thefree end of the cable is equipped with-a'grip 29whi'ch the ridermay intermittently pull upon to unwind thecable from the drum andimpart'a succession of impulses to the rear wheels andvehicle; butduring the operation the motion-:01 the vehicle after being started iscontinuous.

A stout helical spring 30 surrounds the rear axle and one end of thespring is secured stationary to one of the side rails I0, as best shownin Figure 4, while the opposite end is secured to the pulley 22. Atubular housing 3| may be disposed on the axle axially within thespring. The spring stores up energy as the drum is rotated anticlockwiseby unwinding of the cable therefrom to rotate the drum clockwise aftereach operation and rewind the cable on the drum.

The drum is provided with integral notched flanges 32 and 33 at the endsof the intermediate step and is provided with smooth flanges 34 and 35at the outer ends of the terminal steps, these flanges forming stops tohold the cable in position on the drum. As best shown in Figure 5 theflanges 32 and 33 are notched on the peripheral edge to provide teeth36. The purpose of the notched flanges is to anchor the end of the cable25 to a selected step, as best shown in Figure 3, when the cable isshifted laterally of the drum, and when so positioned, the cable can berewound on said selected step.

The shift mechanism comprises a shift rod 31 which is mounted forendwise sliding movement in guides 38 aligned transversely of the siderails with the rear axle in advance of the drum 22 and is provided witha staple like guide 39 fixed at the center of the rod and having arcuatelegs 40 between whichthe cable 25 is trained, as best shown in Figure 8.A bell crank lever 4| is pivotally mounted in a bearing 42 on one of theside rails l 0, as shown in Figure '7, one legof the lever beingconnected by a link 43 to stud M on the shift rod 31 andthe other legbeing connected to a link 45 which is connected to a. manually operable:shift lever 46 pivoted on the side rail of the frame, as shown at 41.

Movement of the shift lever 46 slides rod 31 endwise transversely of theframe to train the cable onto a selected stepof the drum, the securedend of the cable during this movement being deformed to pass across thelateral notched fiange of the selected step and disposed so as to berewound on the selected step, as best shown in Figure 3. Thus threespeed changes are provided according to the diameter of the step uponwhich the cable is wound. i I

A brake bar A8 is pivoted at one end on one of the side rails I9, asshown at 49 in Figure l, and the opposite end loosely passes through akeeper 50 on the other side rail and is terminally equipped with a brakeshoe 5| adapted to engage the associated rear wheel. A link 52- connectsthe free end of the brake barlwith a manually opera: ble brakei lever 53which is pivoted on, the side rail contiguous to the shift lever 46,.Movement of the brake leverapplies the brake shoe;as,will be understood.

In use the rider customarily sits on the seat l2 and stretches his legsforward with his feet lodged upon the foot rest l"|., By pressure of onefootior the other the front axle is turned to guide the vehicle in thedesired direction; 1T ejgrip 29 is then intermittently pulled uponto;unwind vthe cable from, the springcontrolled drum thereby imparting asuccession of, impulses to the rear Wheels and vehicle. Should a changeof speed be; desired the rider may shift the changespeed lever 46 to.train the propelling cable onto a;selected step of the drum havingagreater or less diameter whereupon when the grip 29 is again pulledwith the same strain as before, the surfacever- Ill. The rod is disposedsubstantially parallel.

locity of the drum, and of the vehicle will be :altered to correspondwhether the selected step is of greater or less diameter than the normalor center step of the drum.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation. 7

' What is claimedis: 1 V 1. The combination in a .toy vehicle of aframe, front and rear axles having respective steering V i and drivingwheels, a stepped driving drum, a the shift consequently, the speedratchet means operatively connecting the drum to the rear axle, apropelling cable terminally connectedto a step of the drum and wound onthe step for rotating the drum in one direction; a spring for rewindingthe cable on the drum, notched flanges between the steps of the drum, ashift rod slidably mounted transversely of the frame, a manuallyoperable'shift lever pivoted on the frame, an operative connectionbetween the lever and the rod for shiftingithe rod endwise, and

a guide on the rod for training the cable onto a selected 1 step of thedrum across one of said notched flanges to change speed, said notchedflange anchoring the cable to the selected step.

2. The combination in a toy vehicle of a frame, a dirigible front axle,a driving rear axle, wheels on the axles, a stepped drivingdrum loose onthe rear axle, notched flanges on..the ends of'one of the steps of thedrum, a propelling' cable terminally connected to the last named step, aspring fixed at one end to the drum and fixed at the other end to therear axle .for winding the cable upon the drum, a ratchet gear ontherear axle, a

dog on the drumiengaging the. ratchet gear to rotate the axle whenthecable is unwound from the drum, a shift rod slidablymounted transverse-1 ly of the frameya manually operable shiftlever pivoted on theframe,"an' operative connection between the lever and the rod. forshifting the rod endwise, andaguide'on ,therod for training the cableonto a selected step of the drum across one of said notched flanges,said notched flange anchoring the cable to said selected step.

STERLING A. YOUNG.:

